Students urge hike in education budget

Students urge hike in education budget

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Hundreds of Mulawarman University
students held a rally on Monday here, demanding that the local
government allocate a greater budget for education.

The students said the provincial administration had allocated
only Rp 2.6 billion of the Rp 3 trillion 2004 provincial budget
toward education, or only 0.087 percent.

Abdul Rachim, chairman of the Mulawarman Student Executive
Body and the coordinator of the protest, alleged that the East
Kalimantan government had violated the Constitution, which
stipulates a minimum 20 percent allocation of the budget for
education. -- JP